Knitting machine



Dec. 12, 1939. $|EGEL 2,183,050

KNITTING MACHINE Filed May 16, 19:59 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 g 3/ Saddam Z /2 129 4.

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Patented Dec. 12, 1939 STATES PATENT My invention relates to a knitting machine and a method of knitting, and it is an object of the same to provide a method of knitting on a spring beard needle machine a pile fabric which may have very long loops such as have not heretofore been known, while another object is' to provide an independent spring beard needle machine capable of carrying out that method. In order to,

make such unusually long pile loops the yarn for making such pile loops is laid upon or measured over the beards of certain spring beard needles instead of relying merely on the action of the sinkers to provide pile loops by measuring yarn about the shanks of the needles as in previous practice.

It is another object of the invention to provide a machine for this purpose which is very simple and requires but little alteration from standard practice so that an ordinary independent spring needle machine can readily be changed for making the fabric described and can readily be changed back to knit in ordinary manner.

Referring to the drawings which are made a part of this application and in which similar reference characters indicate similar parts:

Fig. 1 is a conventionalized elevation looking outward toward the knitting cams and showing three sections of a circular knitting machine,

Figs. 2 and 3 are diagrammatic views illustrating respectively the position of a short butt needle and a long butt needle with respect to the sinker level shortly after passing the yarn feed of the first section,

Figs. 4 and 5 are similar views of such parts shortly after passing the yarn feed of the second section,

Figs. 6 and 7 are similar views of such parts shortly after passing the yarn feed of the third section,

Fig. 8, a section on line 88 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 9, an elevation of a cam shown in Fig. 1,

Fig. 10, a section of said cam on line Iii-Ill 45 of Fig. 9,

Fig. 11, a conventionalized view illustrating the action of the sinkers on the yarn in section I of Fig. 1.

In the drawings, reference character I0 indicates generally the cam ring of a circular knitting machine having in each section needle cams such as the raising cam H, the pull-down or retracting cam 12 and appropriate guard cams and the like for acting on the butts of the needles to 55 raise or lower them orto maintain them at a desired level, the needles being held in slots of a needle cylinder l2 as usual.

Fig. 1 shows three such sections, showing the three steps used in the manufacture of the fabric.

It will be understood that the three sections 5 shown can be varied by adding other sections similar to the sections shown.

The needlesof'the series illustrated comprise short butt needles l3 and long butt needles l4, and sinkers l5 of conventional character 00- 10 operate with the needles. As a matter of illustration the needles of the series are here shown as being divided into groups of similar needles with interposed sets of mixed needles; viz., a group of six long butt needles followed by a set 16 of interspersed long and short butt needles, here consisting of one short butt needle, then one long butt needle, then one short, then one long, then one short, then one long, then one short, this set being followed by a group of six long 20 butt needles and so on throughout the series or according to the desired pattern, it being understood that the grouping and arranging may be varied to afford a pattern of pile loops on a substantially plain or smooth fabric, such as may 25 be desired. The sinkers are operated in conventional manner by conventional sinker cams, with results to be hereinafter described, and beard pressers l6 cooperate with the needles in the ordinary manner except as later set forth. 30

A needle cam ll at the right of Fig. 1 is provided with a downwardly sloping portion 18 for directing short butt needles to the downward slope of the pull down or retracting cam H. The cam I! has a portion l9 reduced in thickness (Fig. 10) so as to engage only the butts of the needles which have long butts, this portion being of such a depth as to pull down the long butt needles only so far that the yarn supplied by the feed 20 of this section will be laid across the beards of the long butt needles and not below them, as is done by the conventional cams.

It will be understood that the arrangement of long butt and short butt needles may be reversed, so as to lay yarn on the beards of short butt needles and measure it about them for making pile loops, instead of as shown. The short butt needles remain elevated. In this way the yarn is so fed to the short butt needles that it will be taken under their beards as in regular 59 knitting but it will not be taken under the beards of the long butt needles but will lie across the outside of the beards so as to provide long pile loops of yarn at the positions occupied by the g ups of long butt needles and short pile loops where the number of long butt needles is small; e. g., one or two needles.

Fig. 2 illustrates the relative position of a short butt needle and an adjacent sinker in the first section shortly after taking yarn, the sinker I5 having measured off the yarn about the needle in the ordinary manner. Fig. 3 illustrates the position of a long butt needle in the first section at the outer limit of the movement of the adjacent sinker, where it will be seen that this sinker has measured ofl" the yarn about the heard of the needle so as to make a long pile loop, instead of measuring it about the shank.

The needles which have been divided as above described now pass to the pull down cam which retracts all the needles. At this point the long loops which are formed around the beards of the long butt needles are released and form a high loop or pile on the fabric. None of the stitches formed at a previous feed are knitted ofi on section I inasmuch as there is no presser action (see Fig. 8) against the beards of any of the needles.

In section 2 of the machine as illustrated the long butt needles are all raised to knitting level by means of a cam 2|, but this cam is reduced in thickness to such an extent as not to raise I any of the short butt needles which ride past the same at an idle or welt level such that yarn coming from feed 22 is not laid under or against their beards, but is taken only by the long butt needles l3 which knit off their stitches in ordinary manner while the short butt needles hold their stitches, the positions of the needles with reference to the sinkers shortly after passing the yarn feed being illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5.

The short butt needles in section 2 hold their yarns and/or stitches previously placed on the needles so as to maintain the pile loops in a uniform manner until after the long butt needles have knitted off the stitch or stitches previously placed on them, thus causing the yarn of feed 20 to be inlaid in the cloth between the long pile loops and so holding these long pile loops in place.

At section 3 the needles are all raised to knitting level by a cam 23 and take yarn from a feed 24, after which they are retracted by a pull down cam 25 to knit in ordinary manner.

It will be seen that the large groups of long butt needles cause the formation of long fioats while the interposed sets of interspersed long and short butt needles lay the yarn in the fabric in unknitted relation and may form relatively small pile loops in the wales made by single long butt needles since in section 2 each of the isolated long butt needles has under its beard on its shank a loop drawn at a previous feed and has at its back a small pile loop of the yarn from feed 20, while each of the isolated short butt needles has under its beard on its shank a loop drawn at a previous feed and also a portion of the yarn from feed 20, while the yarn from feed 22 willlie behind such short butt needles when they' are raised to take yarn from feed 24 and then to knit ofi. Due to the fact that the long butt needles knit while the short butt needles remain in the low pos tion as indicated in section 2 there W111 be short floats of yarn between stitches in those parts of the cloth made by interspersed needles and these floats appear between low inlaid loops of the yarn that forms the long pile loops, said yarn thus forming both long and short pile loops on diflerent parts of the fabric.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the construction and arrangement shown may be varied in numerous ways. Thus, instead of a single section such as section I of Fig. 1 there may be two or more such sections so as to lay additional pile yarns in the fabric to provide a heavy pile structure and the arrangement of groups and sets may be varied or the arrangement of interspersed needles in the intermediate sets may be varied. Since numerous variations may thus be made in structure and operation I do not limit myself to the specific form of the invention shown in the drawings and described in the specification but only as required by the state of the prior art.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim is:

1. A method of knitting a pile fabric on a series of independently movable spring beard needles comprising as a step measuring a'yarn about the beards of needles in the series and feeding the said yarn to other needles of the series below their beards.

2. A method of knitting pile fabric on an independent spring needle machine comprising raising all the needles to knitting level at a feed.

lowering certain groups of adjacent needles and also lowering certain interspersed needles of sets of needles located between said groups to a position where the yarn of said feed is laid upon the beards of the lowered needles, said yarn being laid below the beards of needles not so lowered, then lowering all the needles to knocking over level without pressing their beards, then at a subsequent feed raising to knitting level the needles that were first lowered while leaving the remaining needles at idle level, then knitting off the stitches of the last-raised needles, and thereafter knitting on all the needles at another feed.

3. A method of knitting pile fabric on an independent spring needle machine comprising laying yarn at one feed upon the beards of certain groups of needles while laying said yarn on the shanks of some of the needles between said groups below their beards and on the beards of other needles between said groups, then depressing all the needles without pressing their beards so as to permit the yarn that was laid on the beards of certain of the needles to pass back of said needles, then at a succeeding feed raising to knitting level all needles on whose beards yarn was laid while leaving the remaining needles at an idle level, then knitting on the needles so raised, and thereafter knitting on all the needles.

4. A method of knitting pile fabric on an independent spring needle machine comprising arranging needles in a series comprising groups of long butt needles with sets of interspersed short butt and long butt needles interposed between said groups, laying yarn at a feed upon the beards of the long butt needles and on the shanks of the short butt needles below their beards, depressing all the needles to knocking over level without pressing the beards of the short butt needles, raising the long butt needles at a succeeding feed while leaving the short butt needles at an idle level, knitting on said long butt needles at said feed, and thereafter knitting on all the needles at a succeeding feed.

5. An independent spring needle machine comprising a plurality of sections each including means for feeding yarn, a series of needles comprising groups of long butt spring beard needles with sets of interspersed short butt and long butt spring beard needles interposed between said groups, means at a feed for raising all the needles to knitting level and then lowering the long butt needles to a level where yarn is laid upon their beards, means for lowering all the needles to knocking over level without pressing their beards, means for raising the long butt needles at a subsequent feed to cause them to knit while leaving the short butt needles at an idle level, and means for causing all the needles to knit at a subsequent feed.

6. A method of knitting pile fabric on an independent spring needle knitting machine comprising the steps of laying yarn upon the needle beards of certain needles while feeding it to other needles below their beards, and then causing the yarn to pass over the tops of said certain needles to form pile loops while holding it on said other needles for subsequently laying it into the fabric between said pileloops.

7. A spring beard independent needle machine comprising a series of needles, a series of sinkers, means for laying yarn upon the beards of certa n needles in a course while laying it on the shanks of other needles below their beards, means for causing such yarn to pass over the tops of said certain needles to form pile loops while it is held under the beards of said other needles, and means for subsequently knitting on all the needles to secure said yarn as a laid-in yarn between said pile loops.

DAVID SIEGEL. 

